Frank Oda Velvet Painting

I was at the thrift shop today and found a velvet painting with a cool looking tropical landscape theme. I thought it looked cool so I bought it. After a little research on the ol' interwebs I found this site and some info on my piece. Apparently it is "Sunrise Over Diamond Head" by Frank Y. Oda. It appears to be original. It's pretty old (paint chipping a little bit, old framing, etc...)and is signed as well. It's also not as colorful and vibrant as the posters/prints that I've seen. Though overall its still in good shape. I am just curious about what it is exactly that I have. I want to hang it in my bedroom. I am just worried now about uv damage, whether it should be re-framed, and what-not. This Oda character is starting to seem like kind of a "big deal". I'll post pictures soon. Any insight would be much appreciated. Mahallo

A photo would help.

On 2014-04-05 00:56, TiKi toRched wrote:
I am just curious about what it is exactly that I have.

Sounds like you already know

Is this the image you have?

On 2014-04-05 08:34, SandraDee wrote:

On 2014-04-05 00:56, TiKi toRched wrote:
I am just curious about what it is exactly that I have.

Sounds like you already know

Somewhat. Yes. I am just concerned about displaying it as is. If it is rare or valuable I am curious if it should be restored, re-framed, etc...

On 2014-04-05 09:06, MaukaHale wrote:
Is this the image you have?

Yes that is the image. The one I have is not as colorful. Did he re-paint this image many times over? From what I have read he did not do prints. Working on uploading some photos this evening. Thanks for all of the responses.

Here are some pics of the find.

Any info would be helpful. Thanks for the interest.

The pattern on the leaves on the palms is identical, which makes me think it's either the original or a very crafty copy. If it hung in a smoker's home or office (wasn't that everyone back then?) it could be very dirty, which would mask the colors and darken it. I'd contact the people at hawaiianartgalleries.com and see what they think.

Edit: On second look I'm going with crafty copy. The colors don't look washed out so much as painted with a smaller palette. Hard to say from Internet photos, though. It's also unusual for someone to put the artist's name on a copy like that unless they were attempting to deceive someone (read: forgery).

Immortalize your name for eternity by contributing to The Tikipedia!

T-shirts based on vintage tiki matchbooks: TikiTees

[ Edited by: TikiTacky 2014-04-06 11:13 ]

Thanks for the info Tacky. I sent Hawaiiana an email. Does anyone know how many paintings of this scene Oda actually did? I have seen a similar original work on this forum somewhere before. It was more of a closeup corner shot if that makes sense. I'd like to get two more similar color, scene and subject matter to display a certain way. They would accent each other nicely in this room.

Hawaiiana responded. I have to ship it to them and pay $250.00 for an appraisal. That's a bit beyond my budget for a piece of information. I guess I will just put it behind some uv glass, hang it up, and wait for antiques roadshow. lol

Aloha,
I had one like it and took it to the antique roadshow in Hawaii.

The Mark Blackburn "Hawaiiana" book had 6 or so variations. The fine art desk appraisal was not kind. They told me, Oda / Hale Pua "wasn't listed " in their fine art book.

They seemed to think the airbrushed art was worth $100 or so." But then I showed it to the appraiser who wears the Hawaiian shirt all the time (who usually does toys and stuff.) really liked it and said $100-300. I did have it in the feedback booth at the end of episode 1 from O'ahu.

Thanks for your story Phillip. Thats cool that you went to the roadshow. I had a local fine art appraiser tell me the same thing. It would not be worth what it would cost to be appraised. It's all good. I like the painting. In a way it's sort of a relief knowing I do not need to invest a lot of dough for restoration. Maybe a new frame, matting, and uv glass. I will be picking up the Hawaiiana book in the near future as well.